Why this ride
283 km from Cáceres to Cáceres, about 4 h 55 of riding. On the way it passes Proserpina Dam, Cornalvo Dam, The Roman Circus and Thermal Baths at Alange. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Old Town of Cáceres and Thermal Baths at Alange
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 283 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 55
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Old Town of Cáceres → Proserpina Dam
76 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it — speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 78 km
Ruta de la Plata
For about 22 km this is Ruta de la Plata, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it. Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 22 km
- Named road
- Ruta de la Plata
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Old Town of Cáceres
Cáceres has an old town so complete that film crews treat it as a ready-made set, and walking its streets at dusk, when the stone glows amber and the crowds have gone, you can see why. Inside the walls, built largely by the Almohads in the twelfth century, are dozens of fortified mansions, towers, churches and palaces, many built by noble families who made their fortunes in the conquest of the Americas. The towers once had battlements, but Queen Isabella ordered most of them cut down to curb the nobles' power. UNESCO listed the old town in 1986.
Read the complete Old Town of Cáceres write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Old Town of Cáceres is where the day begins. Next is Proserpina Dam.
2. Proserpina Dam
The Romans built dams in Spain on a scale that still surprises engineers, and Proserpina, a few kilometres north of Mérida, is one of the best preserved. It was built in the first or second century AD to store water for Emerita Augusta, the provincial capital, which was fed by aqueduct from the lake. The dam is a massive earthen embankment faced with stone and backed by huge buttresses, some four hundred metres long, and it has held water for roughly nineteen centuries with repairs. The reservoir, a long green lake in a landscape of holm oak and rock, is now a place where local people fish, swim and walk.
Read the complete Proserpina Dam write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Proserpina Dam comes up about 78 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cornalvo Dam.
3. Cornalvo Dam
Nearly two thousand years after Roman engineers built it, the dam at Cornalvo still holds water. It lies in the rolling countryside north-east of Mérida, in Extremadura, and it supplied the Roman city of Augusta Emerita, capital of the province of Lusitania. The dam is an earthen embankment faced with stone, with a tower in the reservoir that controlled the outflow, and it is part of the Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Read the complete Cornalvo Dam write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 100 km into the recorded legs you reach Cornalvo Dam. Next is The Roman Circus.
4. The Roman Circus
Mérida was founded in 25 BC as Augusta Emerita, a city for veterans of the Cantabrian Wars, and it grew into the capital of the Roman province of Lusitania. Few places in Spain carry their Roman past so openly. The circus lies on the eastern side of town, a long, flat oval of grass more than four hundred metres from end to end, with the low remains of the central barrier and the seating banks around it. It once held tens of thousands of spectators for chariot races, and though the stands are mostly gone, you can still walk the track and picture the teams thundering around the turning posts.
Read the complete The Roman Circus write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Roman Circus, about halfway. Next is Thermal Baths at Alange.
5. Thermal Baths at Alange
The Romans, who were serious about hot water, found a warm spring at Alange in what is now Extremadura and built a bathing complex around it, and the place is still used today. The Roman baths, about twenty kilometres from Mérida, include a domed chamber with stone benches and a pool fed by the spring, and the water comes out pleasantly warm, a gift in a dry country. The baths date from the time when Mérida, then called Emerita Augusta, was one of the great cities of Roman Spain, and wealthy citizens would travel here to relax and be cured.
Read the complete Thermal Baths at Alange write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Thermal Baths at Alange sits at 139 km, about halfway. Next is back through The Roman Circus.
6. back through The Roman Circus
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Roman Circus write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Roman Circus comes up about 173 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Cornalvo Dam.
7. back through Cornalvo Dam
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cornalvo Dam write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 189 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Cornalvo Dam. Next is back through Proserpina Dam.
8. back through Proserpina Dam
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Proserpina Dam write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Proserpina Dam, late in the day. Next is Old Town of Cáceres.
9. Old Town of Cáceres
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Old Town of Cáceres write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 283 km.
Leg by leg
Old Town of Cáceres to Proserpina Dam
Old Town of Cáceres → Proserpina Dam is 78 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Proserpina Dam to Cornalvo Dam
Proserpina Dam → Cornalvo Dam is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cornalvo Dam to The Roman Circus
Cornalvo Dam → The Roman Circus is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Roman Circus to Thermal Baths at Alange
The Roman Circus → Thermal Baths at Alange is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Thermal Baths at Alange to back through The Roman Circus
Thermal Baths at Alange → back through The Roman Circus is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Roman Circus to back through Cornalvo Dam
back through The Roman Circus → back through Cornalvo Dam is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cornalvo Dam to back through Proserpina Dam
back through Cornalvo Dam → back through Proserpina Dam is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Proserpina Dam to Old Town of Cáceres
back through Proserpina Dam → Old Town of Cáceres is 74 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.